129 Trouble

[kelton325]

Here's the situation:

I have Dish 1000/VIP 622. All was fine, one day 119/110 stopped coming in, 129 channels were fine with decent signal strength. Called Dish, they sent tech who replaced 119/110 LNB on Dish 1000. After that, 119/110 were fine, but 129 was out. They said that 129 was blocked by trees and that dish would have to be moved, which is not an option (wife). I then tried to point the dish myself and actually got 129 to come in weakly, but not all channels (ESPN HD is fine but History HD and locals aren't). I called dish back and explained the situation and that 129 was fine but now not, and they sent another tech. This guy tried but didn't do any better. I just cannot understand how 129 is totally fine one day, the LNB for 110/119 goes out and suddenly 129 is blocked by trees. Actually, the location of 129 is more clear than 119/110, which makes it even more frustrating. It feels like the techs are using the trees as an excuse to not have to spend time to figure it out.

Does anyone have any tips? I have read the forum posts in detail on how to point the Dish, and they actually helped me go from 0% to 29% on 1 transponder and various other weaker strengths on some of the others. Would one of the other dishes (1000.2) maybe help? My alternative will be to drop Dish and give Direct a try as their birds have clearer line of sight and I heard they are higher in the sky.

 

[Laddyboy]

Where is the 129 dish antenna located in relation to the other dish antenna for 110/119? 129 is farther to the west and at a lower elevation. If the view is clear 10 degrees to the right of the existing dish antenna for 110/119, a 1000.2 may work. Remember though that it is a lower elevation so if there are any taller trees in that direction, the signal may be blocked.

 

[dishstaller]

The 129 sat is pretty much a bullseye target, you are either on it or not...not much wiggle room. You 129 signal was most likely reaching the marginal limits when your lnb went out. The tech probably peaked it on the 119 which is wrong, you always peak on the 129 since it has the narrowest window. Your best bet is to have a small TV out by the dish, bring up the signal meter, put it on 129 and peak it by looking at the signal screen. Don't try adjusting az and el at the same time. Loosen the two bolts that allow you to move the dish left to right and maximize signal, lock it down, now loosen the two bolts that allow the elevation to be adjusted, peak signal and lock down. If you still can only get it to 29% then one of two things is wrong 1. trees 2. mishappend dish (I've had customers have their dish get hit by something and it warped the dish. You can take the palm of your hand and feel the curvature of the dish, if you feel ANY bulge then the dish is bent, replace the reflector.

 

[Aliens]

The 129 sat is pretty much a bullseye target, you are either on it or not...not much wiggle room. You 129 signal was most likely reaching the marginal limits when your lnb went out. The tech probably peaked it on the 119 which is wrong, you always peak on the 129 since it has the narrowest window.

That is interesting because the directions tell you to peak with 119.

 

[jevans64]

That is interesting because the directions tell you to peak with 119.

Yes. That is correct because peaking to 119° works most of the time. I live pretty far east ( should really be on EA ), so I peak to 129° and then check the others for signal strength. I'm getting 45-54 depending on TP and the other sats are way up there. Most installers in my area know to lock in 129° first on problems with older 1000.2 dishes. I have good LOS with EA or WA, so I just leave it as is since Ceil-2 is up in 129° now and the signal is probably better than 61.5° for me.

 

[Aliens]

I wish I knew how those transponders work. Depending on when you test your signal strength, the transponders are usually different. One minute 119 is on 11, the next 8. I peaked 119 on transponder 11 at 73. 129 on 11 puts me the mid 30s. When I go to transponder 28 for 129 I hit the 50s. I see that 129 should be peaked on 17, so I’ll give that a try and then see what my 119 reads.

 

[dishstaller]

That is interesting because the directions tell you to peak with 119.

What can I tell you......the directions are written with a good theory to back them up, after dealing with D1000s since they came out however I've learned to peak on the 129.

 

[Aliens]

What can I tell you......the directions are written with a good theory to back them up, after dealing with D1000s since they came out however I've learned to peak on the 129.

If peak on 129, what is the least acceptable signal for 119? Also, do you peak 129 with transponder 17? Thanks.

 

[dishstaller]

If peak on 129, what is the least acceptable signal for 119? Also, do you peak 129 with transponder 17? Thanks.

The 119 signal is usually 75-82% this time of year.....I'm in the panhandle of FL and this time of the year it is almost always very overcast in the afternoon hours. I use my Birdog meter to peak on the 129. To tell you the truth I don't really pay that much attention to what the signal strength is on the on-screen meter because I'm so used to peaking on my Birdog that I know when the signal is optimum. In my area a Birdog will show the max signal for the 129 at 75 on the meter's screen, the 119 is always at 100 when the 129 is peaked. Like I said, the window for the 119 is pretty large, you can move the dish 2-3 degrees without impacting the signal hardly at all whereas the 129 seems to have a very fine focal point...1 degree can make a big difference. In different parts of the country this probably isn't so, I can only speak for my area.

 

[kelton325]

Thanks everyone for the tips... I worked on peaking 129 and still wasn't having much luck. I then ignored my wife's threats and moved my dish mount about 3 feet up my roof (west) and before I could even get a screw in the signal meter started buzzing higher! I got it installed nice and plumb, then dialed in on 129, I am now up to 39%, which is allowing HD's and locals to work. I'm not going to kid myself that this is a permanent fix, but it is working for now. It'll probably buy me another year before the trees grow out that much more, but hopefully by then we'll have moved.

I had been researching D* and it was just not going to be a great move for me, so I am glad I am at least limping along for now.

I am still very frustrated that the Dish repair guys couldn't make this happen. Had to suffer through 2 visits waiting almost all day each time for a "sorry, nothing can be done" answer.

 

[old corps]

I had the same problem with 1000.2 (WA) because of large trees. Worked great in the winter. Anyway, the solution for me was a swap to a 1000.4 (Eastern Arc) which Dish did for me at no charge. If you have a clear shot to the Southeast that may be your solution. Dunno where your locals are, mine are on 61.5. I'm not even in the correct location for EA but they will do it for LOS problems. Good luck!

Ed

 

[TheKrell]

I have a maple tree that grew up into my 119 LOS, so I had it topped. That was 5 years ago and I still have good SS. Topping a tree is a far better option than chopping it down!

You could also find that moving the dish up the roof turns out to be a permanent fix. That is because trees don't just keep growing into the stratosphere; they have a natural limit and grow no higher. So, if your dish is now looking above the natural limit of the species of tree in question, then you're done.